I discuss this question with three of my recruiter friends. My hypothesis was that "yes, being one of the first applicants matters a lot." The recruiters proved that there's more nuance to this question than I thought.

LinkedIn Recommendations stand out to hiring managers. Want proof? Listen to the episode.

Build your personal board of directors, create your own opportunities, and find a career before the 11th hour. 

Highlights:

Google and Southwest Airlines Alumn Marcelo Menezes and I discuss:

How Marcelo used a gameplan and narrow focus to get an internship with Southwest Airline 3:57

Talking to the employees of a company is much more helpful than going to a career page. 5:47

You can use LinkedIn to talk to anyone. 7:47

Using the LinkedIn Alumni tool to find employees of the companies you want to work for. 8:47

Be respectful and clear about your purpose and many people will talk to you 10:17

Three things Marcelo tries to learn about in his informational interviews: 11:27

The book: how to put what you learn in informational interviews into practice: 12:37

Don’t use slash and burn as a networking strategy! 14:30

How Marcelo gets employers to reach out to him. The holy grail of job searching! 17:17

Flip the “job search funnel” upside down. 20:17

An employer’s perspective: why Marcelo’s method works 22:00

How Marcelo broke into Google by learning the hiring process inside and out 25:45

Even Marcelo sucks sometimes 32:45